Building a strong brand can help an agency stand out in a competitive environment, one where employers are vying for employees with similar skills. Agencies should be leading the conversations about their workplaces and shaping how others identify them.

But recruiting isn’t just a one-way street, and hiring managers aren’t the only ones making decisions. Potential candidates are deciding if the agency is a good fit for them and if they want to be managers.

Agencies are adjusting to managing multiple generations while also planning for two key issues: the pending retirements of seasoned workers and grappling with work-life balance issues for employees who are empowered to work anytime, anywhere on any device.

There’s a lot of talk in government about recruiting talent from Silicon Valley, private firms nationwide and directly from colleges and universities. But sometimes the perfect candidate for the job isn’t across the country or in a classroom; they’re down the hall or in a field office.